Arne Slot could achieve something tonight that not even Klopp or Shankly managed at Liverpool | OneFootball

If all goes to plan for Liverpool tonight, Arne Slot will achieve something which proved elusive for even illustrious predecessors such as Jurgen Klopp, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.

Victory over Bologna at Anfield would make it eight wins from the Dutchman’s first nine games in charge, a feat that no previous Reds manager achieved during their time at the helm.

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The statistic was highlighted by Ian Kennedy for BBC Radio Merseyside Sport ahead of kick-off against the Serie A side, as he outlined: “It is a measure of how well Arne Slot has settled in at Anfield that if the Reds beat Bologna tonight, he will be the first Liverpool manager in history to win eight of his first nine matches in charge.

“Saturday’s win at Wolves showed they can win when not quite at their very best, an important quality amid such a hectic fixture schedule.

“An early kick-off at Crystal Palace on Saturday might be another tough test, but Liverpool will go into the game top of the table and with another away win on their minds. They have so far won every away game they have played this season.”

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Slot will be the first to acknowledge that Klopp bequeathed him an excellent squad which needed only cosmetic touch-ups over the summer, a far cry from the scenario that the German inherited from Brendan Rodgers nine years ago.

However, the Dutchman has taken on the substantial challenge of trying to build upon the remarkable legacy set by his predecessor, with much of what he does this season bound to be judged through the prism of how it compares to the man he replaced in the Anfield dugout.

While Liverpool would’ve been widely expected to win the vast majority of the matches they’ve had so far under the 46-year-old, the control that they’ve exerted in almost all of those games illustrates that the new head coach isn’t fluking his way through the job.

The Reds have shown more than one way to achieve victory under Slot, too, with dominant performances against the likes of Manchester United and West Ham mixed with digging in to get over the line against Wolves despite playing nowhere near our best.

The potential history that the Dutchman could create tonight sums up how superbly he’s done so far at Anfield, but once the match against Bologna kicks off, all that’ll be on his mind and those of LFC supporters is simply to win.